At the grand opening of White Oaks Mall 37 years ago this week, there were enough celebrities on hand for a game of “Hollywood Squares,” wrote Andy Lindstrom, a reporter for The State Journal-Register who covered the event.

“The Big Apple, sometimes known as White Oaks Mall, made its official Springfield debut in a blaze of white tuxedos, brass bands and a fleet of limousines,” Lindstrom wrote. The Big Apple reference was a marketing gimmick suggesting Springfield’s new shopping destination rivaled the real place on the East Coast.

The variety of stars from the late 1970s sports and pop culture scene was, in fact, impressive. Who would have guessed that Artis Gilmore, Ed McMahon, Bruce Jenner, Bobby Riggs, Lou Brock and Billy Carter would come to Springfield to help open our new shopping center?

“This is my first trip to central Illinois,” confided Carter, the younger brother of the sitting president of the United States, Jimmy Carter. “I’d like to see some of the sights, like Lincoln’s Tomb. But I’d have to go in private. I damn sure don’t want folks back home to know about it.”

Carter referred to himself as a “George Wallace redneck” and his irreverent observations as a Southerner got him plenty of attention. “I hope none of you ever come visit me in Plains,” he told the crowd, which seemed to enjoy his sense of humor.

At 8 a.m. on the day of the opening, thousands jammed the mall parking lot to watch a hot-air balloon race featuring the celebrity guests, all dressed in white top hats and tails. McMahon rode in the Budweiser-sponsored entry and was declared the winner, but Carter insisted he had won because he ended up with the cleanest tuxedo. Most of the balloons landed in a cornfield, which at the time was the only thing near the mall.

The formal tuxedos set the tone for the day’s festivities. Inside the mall at center court, McMahon wore a red rose in his lapel and introduced the special guests to the crowd, which stood three deep at the railing on the second level and filled every empty space on the main level. A short time later, they fanned out to various stores to meet fans and sign autographs.

Jenner, decathlon champion in the 1976 summer Olympics, was at Illini Sporting Goods, where a line of people trailed 150 feet beyond the entrance. Miss Illinois, Nancy Beatty, was in Myers Brothers, soap opera star Tom Hallick was at Kirlin’s, and Artis Gilmore, the Chicago Bulls’ 7-foot-2-inch center, was in Montgomery Ward.

The Cardinals’ Lou Brock didn’t stay long because he had to return to St. Louis for an evening game, but he was seen wearing his Brockabrella, an umbrella attached to his hat that he was attempting to market.

The opening of White Oaks was a turning point for Springfield. It was the new thing in retail shopping, and the city was understandably thrilled. It offered 1.2 million square feet of shopping space, placing White Oaks among the 10 largest shopping centers in the country. There were parking spaces for 4,500 cars, and none of them was more than 100 yards from the building.

Mall officials said more than 3,000 would be employed once all the stores were open, making it a huge plus for the city and area economy.

But the mall opening had another effect that may have gone unnoticed by many at the time.

Construction of the mall and the shift of the retail center to the western edge of Springfield took the beat out of the heart of the city.

Sears, Myers Brothers, Herndon’s, Bressmer’s, Roberts Brothers, Montgomery Ward and S.A. Barker, to name a few, all operated stores downtown at one time and had space in the new mall. Instead of turning inward toward the center, the flow of people now went west away from downtown. It left central Springfield struggling to redefine itself and stay vital, a process that continues today.

Many of those names are gone now from the retail landscape, and those that remain, ironically, are losing ground now to the new new thing that appeals to shoppers, the Internet. This is a trend nationwide, not just here.

In an advertisement published the day of the opening, White Oaks promoted the convenience of no longer having to make long trips to other cities, because the new mall offered the kind of shopping people have always wanted “here at home.”

It turns out that “shopping at home” now can be taken literally. But for those who like to shop local at the mall, at least you can still park close to the door.

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